The One Where They All Find Out
by Hedwig0326
Summary: A little fic about how I think how Castle should have progressed after Ryan discovered that Castle and Beckett are dating. Rated T, just to be safe. Enjoy! :)
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is a little fic about the way I think everyone finding out about Castle and Beckett SHOULD have gone. This is my very first fanfic, so please be nice!

"Yo!" Javier Esposito came racing through the precinct, bounding over to where Kevin Ryan sat typing away at his desk.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Dude, you are not going to BELIEVE what just happened. You know how we've trying to figure out who Beckett's who guy is, right?" Ryan nodded, trying to feign curiosity, when we knew full well whom that guy was. Esposito continued, his voice barely a whisper. "It's Castle!" Esposito gave a high-pitched giggle, that made many of the others sitting around the 12th precinct turn to stare. Ryan jumped up out of his desk, grabbed Esposito by the arm and dragged him along towards the break room, where no one would overhear them. The last thing Beckett and Castle needed was Gates finding out about their secret. Once he had closed the door, he turned to face Esposito.

"Bro, are you sure? Wouldn't Castle have told us? " he started, trying to convince Espo otherwise. But it was no use.

"No." Esposito giggled again. He looked like a toddler on Christmas morning. "I went downstairs to the photocopier room, and the door was closed, and they were in there! Beckett and Castle!" He giggled again. Ryan sighed.

"So? That doesn't mean –" Ryan was cut off as Esposito started rambling again.

"No, you don't understand. They – they stood there – and Castle – hehe – he kissed her!" Esposito collapsed onto the couch, trying to muffle his fit of giggles. Ryan stood there, thinking. Esposito noticed his friend's strange reaction. "Bro! Come on! This is the greatest news ever! Why the long face?" Ryan sat down beside him.

"Listen Espo, you have got to keep this a secret."

"Yeah, of course! Oh, I can't wait to see the look on Beckett's face when –"

"No. You can't tell anyone. And that includes Beckett and Castle."

"What?" Esposito said. Ryan sighed.

"We should respect their privacy. They'll tell us when they're ready." Esposito stayed silent for a moment.

"I guess you're right." He patted Ryan on the back, but then stopped suddenly. "Hang on. How do YOU know about Castle and Beckett?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Hang on. How do YOU about Castle and Beckett?" Ryan remained silent for a moment. His brain tried to think up an excuse.

"I – um – what do you mean?"

"I mean –" Esposito stood up from the couch –"you've barely reacted at all! It's as if…" he narrowed his eyes. "It's as if you already knew." Ryan eyes went wide.

"That's preposterous! I don't –"

"Ryan, you're a terrible liar." Espo said. Ryan sighed.

"Alright! Alright! You remember back when we had that dude who took a dive into Castle pool in the Hamptons?"

"Oh yeah, of course." Esposito said, sitting back down, eager for the juicy secrets.

"Well, Beckett was with him." Ryan waited for a response.

"OH! THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE! I'M SUCH AN IDIOT –"

"Esposito! Shut up! People will hear you!"  
"Sorry." He shrugged.

"Anyways, this one suspect sort of tipped me off. I decided to keep it a secret, for the sake of Beckett and Castle." Esposito looked at Ryan.

"Fair enough. I would have done the same thing in your position. Well actually, I wouldn't have, but –" Esposito was cut off by the shrill ring of a cell phone. It was Ryan's. He answered.

"Yeah?" He paused. "Mmm –hmm… Got it. Bye." Ryan shoved his cell back into his pocket and got up from the chair. Esposito followed.

"Murder?"

"Yeah. 14th and 12th.

"Let's go." And with that, the two detectives calmly walked out of the room, as though nothing had even happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Esposito and Ryan arrived at the crime scene to find Lanie looking over the body of a young female, lying peacefully on the ground in an abandoned alleyway.

"Cause of death?" Esposito asked. The girl almost looking as though she could have been sleeping.

"Yeah, good morning to you too." Lanie was not in a good mood. She sighed, and wrote something down on her clipboard. "I'll have to get her back to the lab, but it appears as though she was poisoned. She has an injection mark under her fingernail." Lanie glared at Esposito. Ryan, sensing a storm brewing, hustled Esposito away.

"Thanks Lanie. We're going to – uh, check in with uniforms, see if they found anything that could tell us who she is." The pair of detectives walked away, where they could see Castle and Beckett arriving, both with coffee in their hands.

Ryan stopped in his tracks, and motioned to Esposito.

"Not a word, got it?"

"Yeah yeah. What are you, my mother?" Esposito calmly walked away from Ryan, over to Castle and Beckett.

"Hey Esposito." Beckett was not in a good mood.

"What's up?" Beckett shot a quick glance at Castle.

"Nothing." She paused. "So, what do we have?" she said, pointing towards the body in the distance.

"Well, she's a female, around 25 or so, and cause of death appears to be poisoning, via injection. We're working on the identity." Beckett nodded. The three detectives, plus writer, walked over to Lanie, who was pulling something from the girl's bra.

"Aha!" she said. Esposito was taken aback.

"Uh… why were you poking around in our victim's cleavage?" he asked. Lanie gave him a deathly glare.

"Our victim –" she shot one more look at Espo – "appears to have hidden a note on the inside of her bra strap. She handed it to Beckett. "See for yourself." Beckett carefully unfolded the yellow sticky note, revealing a set of numbers.

"120485?" she read. Castle pondered at this.

"Hmm. Perhaps the victim secretly encoded the whereabouts of her treasure on this note, after discovering a secret treasure map. And one of the other treasure hunters found out, and couldn't risk her discovering the location of the chest full of pearls and rubies and –"

"CASTLE!" Beckett yelled.

"Sorry." Beckett sighed. She didn't look particularly upset with him, Ryan thought. She narrowed her eyes at Castle, all the while baring a subtle smile. After a moment, she finally turned her head back to Esposito and Ryan, remembering they were there.

"Alright. Get this into an evidence bag, please. Let me know if you find anything. You two stay here, give uniforms a hand. Castle and I will head back to the precinct with Lanie."


	4. Chapter 4

_H__ey guys... I know I've sort of disappeared for a little while... Ok, MORE than a little while... What can I say? Life gets a little crazy sometimes. But I'm going to do my best to continue to update. If you guys have any requests or ideas for my fic, feel free to include them in your reviews! _

Castle and Beckett sat in the precinct, staring at the murder board, in silence. The case was a puzzling one. They had since spoken with numerous members of the victim's family, after being able to identify the girl with her prints, being in the system for a DUI a few years before. No one was very helpful. Both Castle and Beckett were sipping large cups of warm coffee, having hit a dead end, after a few hours, at least until Ryan and Esposito finished canvassing the neighborhood or Lanie finished her autopsy.

"Hmm. 120485… You sure it's not a treasure map?" Castle pondered.

"Yes." Beckett playfully smacked Castle over the head. "And it's not a phone number. I already checked that out."

"Perhaps it's a locker combo?"

"That's possible. But we don't know which one."

"Hmm." Castle paused for a moment, lost in thought. Beckett, on the other hand, was thinking about a different peculiar sight.

"Castle." She said.

"Hmm?" He glanced up. "are you considering my treasure map idea?"

"NO." She glared at him. "Is it just me, or did Ryan and Espo seem a little odd this morning?" This sparked Castle's interest.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean – well – when we were first heading down to the crime scene – I don't think they had realized we were there yet – I could have sworn Esposito was _giggling._" Beckett took another sip of her coffee, having almost finished her third cup of the day.

"Yeah, well, you know how Esposito gets –"

"But while we were there, it looked like Ryan was trying to keep him from saying something." She stood up and began pacing. Castle proceeded to stand up as well.

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Yeah, well I'm not."

"You never believe me."

"Oh please. Sit down and stop the bickering."

"See? You're talking to me as though I'm a 12 year old."

"On. A. Sugar. Rush."

"Yeah well –" Their bickering was interrupted with the shrill sound of Beckett's phone ringing. She walked over, glancing at Castle, and answered.

"Hello?" She paused, listening intently. "Of course. Sure." She put the phone down. "Lanie's got something for us."


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello! Here's the next chapter. Just wondering from you guys, how big a role do you want the case the team is working on to have on the story? Do you want it full blown like it would be on a real episode of Castle, or more on the side with more focus on Castle and Beckett relationship stuff, etc.? Let me know! Anyways. Enjoy the chapter. _

Beckett and Castle entered the morgue to find Lanie hunched over the victim's body.

"Hey Lanie. What do you have?" Beckett asked, walking over to stand beside Lanie and peering down at her work.

"Well." Lanie stood up. "Someone injected cyanide into her."

"So that's the cause of death?"

"Yes." Silence filled the room.

"Anything else about the case?" Beckett asked. Lanie began organizing her tools.

"Nope." Beckett glanced at Castle.

"Then why…" Beckett began. Lanie took this as an opportunity to pounce.

"Girl, who is this guy you're dating? I have a right to know!" Beckett was silent. She looked down and shuffled her feet.

"Just a guy." She said. Lanie rolled her eyes.

"Oh no. You are way to happy for it to just be some guy. WHO IS IT?" Lanie glared at Beckett. Beckett began stammering, trying to come up with an excuse, until she was saved by the ringing of her phone. She answered.

"Beckett. Yes? Ok. Sure. Ok. Yeah. I'm on my way." She turned her phone off. "Ryan and Esposito picked up a witness. I have to go." She in no way tried to hide her relief. Quickly, she left the room before Lanie could say anything. "Come on Castle!" Castle nodded.

"Thanks Lanie." He started to leave when Lanie reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Castle. We have got to figure out who his guy is. I'm calling a meeting. Today at 7:00 you, me, Espo and Ryan are meeting at my place to hatch a plan, got it?" Castle blinked.

"Um. Yeah. Sure." Castle took a step backwards towards the door. "Well –"

"CASTLE! COME ON!" Beckett yelled. Castle jumped and quickly ran out the door to catch up with her. Lanie turned around, back to the dead body on the table. She sighed.

"We are going to figure out who his mysterious guy is." She said, talking both to herself and at the same time the body lying down in front of her. She pulled out a fresh pair of surgical gloves. "We will. Even if I have to torture Beckett until she tells me." Calmly, she pulled on a pair of safety glasses, and proceeded to pick up a fresh tool and cut open the body of her latest cadaver.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi! So this is quite a short chapter. Sorry! On the bright side, it's the second chapter of the day. I'm attempting to make up for disappearing for 3 months. Oops. Don't worry, I'll get another one that should be longer up tomorrow. Enjoy! _

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU SAID YES?" Castle and Beckett were sitting on Castle's couch, having finished their day – they hadn't found anything useful to help them with their case – and were now eating dinner in the empty loft. Alexis was at college and Martha was out to some theatre performance, so the place was empty. Castle had just finished recounting what Lanie had said to him after Beckett had left the morgue. As expected, Beckett was furious. Castle quickly tried to calm her down.

"Look, I had too, she would have been suspicious and also –"

'SUSPICIOUS? CASTLE, PLEASE. YOU –" She poked him in the chest – "ARE THE WORST LIER IN THE WORLD! THEY'LL BE MORE SUSPICOUS! TWO OF THEM ARE DETECTIVES!" Beckett furiously slammed down the wine glass she had been holding. "Castle, Gates can't find out. She can't."

"It ok. She won't." Castle stroked Beckett's hair, just one small fraction of everything he loved about her – it smelt like cherries. He had recently discovered that this was due to the shampoo she used. He allowed Beckett a moment to calm down. "Even if, worst case scenario, they do find out, they would never let Gates find out. They're our friends." Beckett leaned in to Castle's strong, supportive shoulder, relaxing somewhat.

"You're probably right." She said.

"Anyways, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted, this could actually go well. I'm pretty sure Esposito still believes you're seeing that idiot, Demming. I can led everyone in the wrong directions." He puffed up his chest. "I'm an _excellent _liar." Castle checked his watch, and jumped up. "It's already 6:30! I had better get going." He leaned over, quickly giving a swift peck on the cheek to Beckett. He stood up, grabbed his coat, and started waking towards the door. "I'll make sure I'm back by around 9:00, ok? I'll text you if needed. Bye!" And with that, Castle closed the door, leaving Beckett alone in Castle's loft. She wasn't nearly as confident as Castle was about everything. She had doubts. _Many _doubts. She sighed, and returned to her plate of pasta. She would find out soon enough.


	7. Chapter 7

Castle, though seemingly confident when he had left the loft, was now slightly nervous as he stood in front of the door that led into Lanie's apartment. He knew he hadn't really thought things through when he had agreed to show up for this – this _meeting _– but he was a writer, and his imagination of what he could possibly lead the two detectives and the medical examiner into believing were endless – if he could play it correctly. If he was too dramatic, or they poked a hole through a theory or a statement he made, or if something in his body language or facial expressions suggested something, it would be game over for the secret of his and Beckett's relationship. But, he thought, checking his watch, it was much too late to change his mind and turn back. So, he rang the doorbell.

Esposito answered the door.

"Yo!"Castle! Hey man, come in!" Esposito stepped aside, allowing Castle entrance and a better look at the apartment, Lanie was relaxing on a plush red couch in a corner of the room that was obviously the living room. She was holding a glass of – something. He guessed coffee or tea, something warm. Ryan was on the other side of the room, pouring himself apple juice. Yes, apple juice.

"Hey Castle." Ryan said, waving a hand in Castle's general direction.

"Come on, sit down. You want something?" Esposito asked, pointing to the kitchen. "Ryan makes a mean turkey sandwich."

"Hey! I'm not making a –"

"Honey milk, please. You're drinking apple juice, at 7:00 in the evening. Don't even talk to me right now." Esposito picked up a lone beer bottle sitting on a small table near the door, and walked over to his spot on the couch beside Lanie.

"No worries, I'm good. I already had dinner with K –" Castle stopped himself abruptly. He was just 5 minutes into the evening and he was already in hot water. "Um, with myself." Esposito let out a small, quiet, very un – Esposito – ish giggle. It was the kind you could expect to hear from a teenage girl.

"Esposito?" Are you ok?" Ryan asked, looking up from his apple juice. He sounded annoyed. Castle stared from one detective to the other. Strange, he thought.

"I'm fine." Esposito replied.

"Good."

Relieved no had noticed anything (or so he thought), Castle walked over to an oddly shaped blue swivel chair across from Esposito and Lanie, and sat down.

"Right then." Esposito seemed to have recovered from his giggling fit. "Let's get this meeting started. Come on Ryan!" Ryan hurriedly put the carton of apple juice away and joined the others in the living room. Lanie spoke first.

"Well, now I just want to say that I in no way support the idea of prying into Beckett's personal life. But her behavior lately – I think you guys have seen what I mean, she's secretly texting, giggling, she really just doesn't seem to care about much else but this mysterious guy."

"Face it Lanie, you just want to know who Beckett's secret guy is – Ow!" Lanie had slapped Esposito across the face. She continued speaking.

"I just want to know she's with a good guy, you know? I mean, she's like a sister to me. We've got to figure this out. To be honest, I never thought she'd find someone she would end up loving so much as much as she loves Castle – or at least how I thought she did. Is Beckett acting normal towards you Castle? I know you guys went through quite the rough patch." Castle was so desperately trying to ensure that he didn't look conspicuous to Lanie he didn't notice Ryan's eyes stretching to the size of a teacup saucer.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I haven't noticed anything." Lanie narrowed her eyes at Castle.

"Really? I thought you loved her. You haven't noticed?"

"No." Castle said. Lanie paused, deep in thought.

"Ok then." Lanie glanced up, looking at Esposito. "Esposito? What is wrong with you?" Esposito was just about jamming his fist into his mouth to keep himself from bursting into giggles. Lanie turned and looked at Ryan. "Ryan, has Esposito – um… Ryan?" Ryan was glaring at Esposito, as though he were imagining sticking a knife into his chest. As soon as Ryan realized Lanie was looking at him, his face turned a bright shade of red.

"I'm fine – I just um…" Ryan voice came out as barely a squeak. Lanie stared, from tomato Ryan to giggling Esposito to nervous Castle.

"What is _wrong _with everybody today?" She said. The three boys answered all at once.

"Nothing." They said. Lanie sighed.

"Well then. I was thinking perhaps Demming –" She began. Esposito and Ryan both attempted to look interested in what Lanie was saying, but Castle was not paying any attention. He was worried. Both Esposito and Ryan couldn't seem to control themselves whenever Lanie brought up the point of Beckett so very obviously dating someone, he thought. It was almost as if –

Oh no.

This could not be happening.

He pushed back his hair.

No, no nononnononono.

Lanie's voice brought him back into the situation before him.

"Castle!"

"Huh?" He glanced up. Lanie was very annoyed.

"What the _hell _is wrong with you three? I swear, the second I say anything about Beckett's mystery guy, none of you can control yourselves! What the –" Lanie froze. She looked from Esposito, still trying to keep a serious face, to Ryan, who seemed incredibly stressed out, to Castle, who seemed to be having an internal conflict with himself. And then it hit her.

"Lanie? You ok there?" Ryan said. And then Lanie exploded.

"YOU KNOW!" She furiously stood up from her spot in the couch.

"Know – know what?" Said Esposito, trying but failing to feign innocence.

"YOU KNOW WHO BECKETT'S DATING!" She shouted. Ryan began to protest and deny the allegations. Lanie was having none of it. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND DENY IT! YOU KNOW! HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN? WHO IS IT? WHEN DID IT HAPPEN? WHY WOULDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Lanie took a deep breath. Castle, Ryan, and Esposito were all rather frightened. She remained quiet. Finally, Lanie calmed down and took her seat once again. Castle tried to speak.

"Lanie, we…" He stopped talking when he saw the death glare Lanie gave him. Then Castle realized something. Esposito and Ryan knew? He thought. Huh. So they weren't complete idiots. He turned to the 2 detectives, and pointing a finger, he said: "Wait YOU know? HOW?" He was terribly confused. Esposito simply began giggling once again. Ryan spoke.

"It's a long story." Castle sighed.

"Well, at least Gates hasn't… I mean… Oh no. Oops." Castle glanced at Lanie. It was too late. She had heard.

"So, Gates can't find out. Thanks Castle." She grinned. "Alright. So it's someone at the precinct. Hmm. I know you three. If you knew whom Beckett was going out with you would tell me. But you didn't. You sat here and made me look like an absolute idiot, because Gates can't find out. I mean really? I'm better at keeping secrets than the three of you combined. Obviously Beckett really cares about this guy, even more then Castle! And I thought her and Castle were meant for each other! Look at her! And you – wait. She – so then - and –" Lanie gasped. She stared at the three boys. No one said a word. "Oh my goodness. No. No way. CASTLE? YOU AND BECKETT FINALLY CROSSED THE LINE?" She yelled. Castle groaned. This was going much, much worse than he had expected. Ryan began giggling, joining Esposito.

"Yes, yes alright it's me! But guys, you absolutely can not let Beckett find out that you know. She'll kill me. She's already on edge with having to make sure Gates doesn't discover this. Please?" Castle said. Lanie looked like she was about to explode wit excitement.

"OF COURSE! But when? HOW? And ESPO! RYAN? When – Who?!" She paused. "Explain. Everything. NOW."


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey guys! I'm sorry; this chapter is shorter than I wanted it to be – again. But it's May, the time of year where teachers start going crazy with assignments and homework and I spend most of my time after school at dance so I don't get a lot of time to work on this right now, but I'm doing my best. Around mid June things should start to settle down again, I'm sorry! Anyways, enjoy the chapter. _

Castle spent the better part of the next hour recounting the story of what had happened between him and Beckett over the last few months –though he did leave out some of the more _private _details. It probably would have only taken him 30 minutes or so to tell the entire story, but he was continually interrupted by questions and comments from Lanie, Esposito, and Ryan.

"Wait, you've been together since _MAY?" _

"You had the meet the parents dinner? No way. Ok, I want details."

"No. No no no. Seriously?

"She was with you when we called you in the Hamptons? Really? Oh my gosh, how did she not end up murdering us?"

"When did that happen?"

"WHAT?"

Eventually though, Castle managed to finish his summary of what had happened between him and Beckett over the past few months, and turned to Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie.

"Alright. I've told my story." He paused. "How the hell did you two find out?" He said, glaring at the two detectives. Esposito suddenly seemed rather fascinated by his shoes. Ryan cleared his throat.

"Well, I kind of figured it out after talking to that guy during the Hamptons case. He told me about telling everything to you and your "girlfriend." And that got me suspicious, you bringing your girlfriend into the interrogation so I asked him what your girlfriend's name was… and… yeah." Castle sighed.

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that's when you figured it out. So then you told Esposito?"

"NO. Ryan didn't tell me a thing. I found out for myself." Esposito said. This had Castle interested.

"Really? You didn't tell Esposito?" Castle asked. Ryan shrugged.

"It was your business. I figured I'd let you and Beckett tell us when you wanted to." Lanie and Esposito both shifted rather guiltily.

"Well, thanks Ryan. Anyways – Esposito, when did you find out?" Castle turned to look at Esposito, who was blushing.

"Well – um – you remember a week or so ago, when you and Beckett went down to the photocopier room?" Castle nodded, remembering the day. Having not being able to spent time alone together for a few days, and seeing his chance, he had given Beckett a surprise kiss while she was refilling the paper. That had let to… well, things. Remembering this, Castle stared at Esposito.

"You SAW THAT?" He yelled – or tried to yell, it came out as more of a squeak, and slapped himself on the forehead. "Ok. Beckett really can't find out. She will actually murder me." Lanie, who had now taken over the role of Esposito and had been giggling like an idiot throughout this entire conversation, managed to pull herself together and nod.

"Don't worry Castle. Just act like everything is normal, and it'll be fine." She glanced at Ryan and Esposito. "And if something does happen, leave me to handle it. You three really are terrible secret keepers." Esposito pretended to look offended by Lanie's comment. Castle pulled out his phone, and checked the time. It was getting late. Standing up, he excused himself and opened the door, getting ready to leave. Ryan, wanting to get back to Jenny, followed him. Lanie held the door open for them, thanking them for coming. Ryan turned to Esposito.

"Yo Espo, aren't you coming with us?" He said. Esposito, who was trying to look perfectly casual, was standing, leaning on a table that was suspiciously close to Lanie's bedroom.

"Oh um – no, see I –" Esposito stammered, looking at Lanie for help in coming up with an excuse. Ryan snorted.

"About time you guys got back together. Have a good night." And with that, Ryan pulled the door closed himself, walking with Castle to leave Esposito and Lanie alone for the night.


End file.
